Going For The Gold
by Bubblegum Royalty
Summary: Tristan:Shot down by the only girl he ever liked. Mana:Tired of men only liking her for her body. When the to meet at a party during vacation neither of them really thought much of it, though they both became friends. When Serenity and Duke catch wind of this they try desperately to tear the two apart. But, with the help of Amane, the school bully's sister, they might survive.
1. Winter Vacation

TRISTAN HAD BEEN SHOT DOWN BY THE ONLY GIRL HE EVER 'LIKED'. MANA WAS TIRED OF MEN WANTING TO BE HER FRIEND ONLY FOR HER BODY. BOTH PROMISED NEVER TO FALL IN LOVE, BUT FATE, AS ALWAYS, HAD DIFFERENT PLANS...

* * *

Winter Vacation was coming to an end, and a group of students gathered in Florida to have a last minute party.

Tristan Taylor wasn't in the mood for celebration. Serenity Wheeler, the only girl he ever 'liked', shot him down for the SEXY,IRRESISTIBLE Duke Devlin of which Tristan had more history with than he would have liked to admit.

Mana wasn't in the mood to participate in student gatherings either, after suffering one too many 'Friendship-Heartbreaks' after discovering her new opposite gender best friend wanted to be her friend for her body when he made to kiss her the night before. She shot him down, of course. But, she also lost her only friend once more. Her mother practically forced her to come to the party, where she was currently nose-deep in a dark corner reading last years history book.

Currently, the other teens were playing a game of charades with am amusing twist. What that twist was, neither Mana nor Tristan cared. That is until, the got called up onstage.

Amane, sister of Bakura and Akefia and cousin of Ryou (also hosting the party), smiled and said," Okay! I need two more people up here, two people who haven't gone yet. Guys! Gals! Please! Help me find them!"

Mana cringed when a bright spot light shone right in her eyes. Every other girl cheered. Amane motioned for her to come onstage, and Mana politely declined quickly shaking her head, but it seemed she didn't have a choice as Kisara and Noah dragged her onto the stage. Amane handed her a microphone and then proceeded to get a guy onstage. Kisara and Noah dragged a tall man onstage.

He had a brown Mohawk, that pretty much matched his outfit which was totally brown save his shirt which was a dingy white. Amane handed him a microphone as well.

"What's your name sweety?" Amane asked her.

"Um...Mana."

"And yours, handsome?"

"Tristan..."

The audience began to shout their names over and over again. Amane held a hat filled with scraps of paper. Carefully she removed one and read the words on it. By the way the taller girl was smiling, Mana could tell she wasn't gonna like this.

"Mana and Tristan are going to preform True Friend by Miley Cyrus!" The tan skinned girl announced.

Mana cast a glance at Tristan, and by the look on his face he didn't want to do this with her either. Any other time she would have been offended, but this time she could make an exception.

Amane walked offstage and the audience quieted down. The whole room went dark and the spot light fell on the duo onstage. Mana took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

_'You can do this.' she told herself._

The music began and when she sang the first note she was a little startled by her own voice but that quickly subsided when the audience started to cheer. Smiling she continued. Shortly afterward, she was joined by Tristan and the audience cheered even louder.

Both of them did good and when the song ended Mana grabbed Tristan's hand and dragged him backstage with her, waving to the audience.

"You were good." she said.

"So where you." Tristan said," I know that sounds like I'm flirting with you but at this moment I have no interest in girls except as friends."

"That's good to hear. You wouldn't believe my life since I...developed."

"You attract guys like flies to a piece of rotten meat and I repel girls like vinegar to oil." Tristan joked," Some couple we would make."

"Vinegar and oil do go together, they just don't mix."

"Thanks..."

"Sure..."

Tristan shifted on his feet. "Hey not to be rude or anything, but can I have your number? As a friend. I mean, you don't have too...-"

Mana giggled at his shyness. "Sure...maybe you could give me yours as well,just so I know it's you when you call."

"Really?"

Mana nodded. They both pulled out their phones and exchanged numbers.\

"Great, I guess I'll be hearing from you in the near future."

"Yeah. Nice to meet you, by the way."

"You too."

Abruptly, Amane stormed backstage.

"C'mon, guys! They're counting down the seconds to midnight!" Amane grabbed them both by the arm and dragged them out to the balcony with her.

_THREE...TWO..._

"It's nice to meet you as well, Amane." Both said.

"Aw! Nice to meet you to!" Amane gushed.

_ONE!_

Fireworks exploded in the sky.

"Well, that's the end of winter break." Amane sighed. Slowly, she walked back inside.

Mana looked at the sky and then at Tristan. "Well, I guess I better get home." she muttered.

"Yeah,me too." Tristan sighed.

"Bye, then."

"Bye."

Mana didn't know what to do next,so she hugged Tristan and ran of to get her book.

* * *

Mana quietly snuck back into her home and rushed into her room.

She plopped down on her bed and thought about her night. It hadn't even been five minutes, when her phone rung. She picked it up and smiled at the caller I.D.

She opened her phone, still smiling. "Hey, Tristan!"


	2. Friends And Family And Couples

MANA AND TRISTAN SOON BECAME GREAT FRIENDS AND DEVELOPED FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER BEYOND FRIENDSHIP, BUT NEITHER WAS WILLING TO ADMIT IT FOR FEAR OF LOSING THE OTHER AND OF COURSE SERENITY WOULDN'T BE HELPING EITHER AND NEITHER WOULD DUKE...

(disclaimer:Not own anything, plagiarism is not intended)

* * *

"Do you want Vanilla or Chocolate?" Mana asked.

"Hm...lets see...Strawberry!" Tristan laughed.

"I could've guessed that!" Mana rolled her eyes and headed toward the salesperson to place their order.

"...So, I told her 'Yeah, right! Kisara and I SO DO NOT look alike!' and then she was all like- Oh, hi Tristan!" Serenity and Duke waved at him.

'_The last people I want to see, especially with Mana around.' Tristan thought._

"Hey guys!" he waved back halfheartedly and glanced back at the counter where Mana was currently trying to tell the elderly salesperson that she had not said "How many straws can you carry with minty chalk?" and that she had said "Can I have a Strawberry and a Mint Chocolate Chip, please?"

The duo casually walked up to him slurping on their sodas. "So, What's new Tristan? I mean, I've been trying to find the time to talk to you since winter break ended but I really haven't had the time to." Serenity said.

Tristan glanced at Duke. "I can guess where most of that time went."

"You got that right dude!" Duke smirked. "You are still so funny...both of you are!" Serenity giggled.

Tristan resisted the urge to tell Duke off for his own narcissism. It wasn't that he didn't like Duke-quite the opposite at that- it just hurt that Serenity found a narcissist with cat eyes more appealing than him.

Mana choose that exact moment to appear. "I swear if he can't tell the difference between Mint and Mold I don't think he should work-" She said handing Tristan his ice cream cone but trailed off when she saw Serenity and Duke. "...Oh! Hi! You're Serenity, right? And you're Duke?"

"Yeah!" Duke took hold off Mana's hand and kissed it.

"Oh." Mana blushed and secretly wiped her hand on the back of her dress skirt (who knew what germs were on that Casanova flirt?).

Serenity held out her hand and Mana shook it briefly then let it drop. Serenity smiled sweetly. "I don't believe we've met before...?"

"Oh, I'm Mana!"

Duke raised an eyebrow. "So you finally got yourself a girlfriend, Taylor?"

Mana and Tristan blushed profoundly. "No!" they said in sync," Nothing like that!"

"Aw! Too bad! You two would be sweet together!" Serenity gushed.

"Um.." Mana was not sure how to take that," Thanks?"

"WELL! Mana and I have alot to do before the sun goes down, so if you'll excuse us-"

"Oh, so sorry for getting in your way! On your way!" Serenity said. She grabbed Duke and pulled him aside with her. "Bye then!"

Tristan and Mana exchanged a glance. "Yeah, bye." Tristan muttered.

"Oh! And if you run into Amane please tell her I intend to be at her house by 6:00 to work on those changes!"

"Sure thing.." Mana muttered.

As quickly as possible, with out looking rude, Tristan and Mana rushed out of the ice cream shop.

Serenity frowned and turned to face Duke. "I don't think I like her."

* * *

"So that was the girl you used to have a crush on?" Mana inquired. She skipped on the small brick wall that was next to the sidewalk Tristan was walking on.

"Yeah. She didn't have to be so excited about running into me or the 'CHANGES' she was going to make to Amane's work."

"Amane. Aren't her brothers the school bullies Akefia (the Thief King) and Bakura (the Tombrobber)? And isn't her cousin that shy Ryou kid?"

"Yes. We met her on winter break, remember?"

"Yeah, but she hasn't said word one to us since school began again." Mana sighed.

"That would be her brothers fault, not hers."

"But still...Hey, speaking of Amane's brothers, you know what I heard?"

"What?"

"That Bakura was gay and Akefia was bisexual."

Tristan stopped in his tracks and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Mana asked.

"Bakura gay? Akefia Bi? You've got to be kidding me."

"It's what I heard." Mana shrugged. She and Tristan continued walking.

"Well, I heard something entirely different."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Ya know Bakura's arch enemy Yami?"

Mana nodded.

"I heard he was the gay one, not Bakura."

"What about his brother?"

"Atemu? As far as I know, he's straight. But rumors aren't something to play around with."

Mana stopped and bent over, shading her eyes from the sun trying to see 50 feet ahead of them on the other side of the road.

"Isn't that them over there?" she pointed at a group of people.

Tristan squinted. "Yeah, that;s them."

"...I can't believe Mr. Dartz took Serenity's side again! It took me three months to finish that!" Amane complained to her brothers and cousin..or maybe just to her cousin because her brothers were to involved in their wrestling match to pay any attention to what else was going on. They bumped into Ryou.

"Watch it you bloody morons!" Ryou yelled.

Akefia and Bakura ceased wrestling and looked at Ryou.

"Now, now! That's not the type of language you're allowed to use, dear cousin!" Bakura sneered.

"You two use that sort of language all the time." Ryou snapped.

"When have you ever known us to use anything less than profanity?" Akefia asked smirking evilly.

"And that's what made you both into gigantic idiots!" Ryou said.

Bakura and Akefia glanced at one another.

"Uh-oh!" Ryou gulped. He dropped his books and backpack and took off running for a nearby field.

Both of Amane's brothers smirked evilly. "Wait for us, dear cousin!" they cackled taking of in the same direction Ryou went.

Amane groaned and rolled her eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Mana cupped her hands around her mouth. "HEY, AMANE!"

Amane's gazed jerked their way. Tristan grabbed Mana's arm dragging her down from the wall. "What are doing?" he whispered.

"Getting her to talk to us." Mana whispered back. She jerked her arm free and cupped her hands over her mouth again.

"C'mon over here, Amane!" she yelled waving.

Amane, having the only other option to go after her relatives (something she much would rather not do at the moment), nodded and walked over to the duo.

"What's up?" she asked. "Sorry about not talking to you before now," she added," my brothers are-well, you know." She gestured to the field.

"I hate fighting and violence!" Ryou screeched.

"You sound like the Princey's and Pharaoh's midget!" Bakura responded. Ryou started running in a zig-zag pattern.

"It'll take more than that to shake us, dear cousin." Akefia chuckled.

"Are they always that mean to him?" Mana inquired.

"This is what the do when they get bored." Amane sighed shaking her head.

"It's a extremely bad hobby if you ask me." Tristan said.

"Don't let them hear you say that or you'll be next." Amane whispered.

"Oh! By the way! Serenity said to tell you if we ran into you that she was coming over at six." Mana said.

"Thanks. Gives me a head start." Amane said sarcastically.

"Oh! Not that there's anything wrong with your work-"

"No biggie. I just wish Serenity didn't always try to upstage me, especially to Mr. Dartz."

"You could hand her over to your brothers." Tristan suggested.

"I thought you liked her."

"Liked being the operative word."

"Ah." Amane nodded," But as psychotic as my brothers are they wont hit a lady.(Whether she acts like one or not)"

Ryou rushed up and clung onto Amane's arm.

"Amane! You gotta help me!" Ryou panted," They're crazy!"

"She's not gonna help you with anything." Akefia said walking up with Ryou's stuff. Bakura followed in his wake. They both gave Mana and Tristan dirty looks.

"And who would you be?" Bakura inquired.

"I'm Tristan-"

"I know who you are, you bloody moron," Bakura cut him off and pointed at Mana,"I meant her."

"I'm Mana-"

"AND WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH OUR SISTER?" Akefia asked.

"Lay off, 'Kef. You too, 'Kura." Amane said," We're just having a friendly conversation as friends."

Bakura looked Tristan over. "I'm sure you were." he muttered.

Akefia grabbed Amane's arm. "C'mon. Time to go. Who knows when Wheeler's sister's gonna show up." He dragged her forward with him. Bakura grabbed Ryou and did the same.

"Nice to see you guys again!" Amane yelled struggling against her brothers grip.

"Yeah! You to!" Tristan and Mana yelled back.


	3. Information

AMANE'S LIFE WAS NEVER VERY EASY BETWEEN SCHOOL, OVERPROTECTIVE BROTHERS, A CLINGY SHY COUSIN, _SERENITY, _TRISTAN AND MANA BUT SHE ALWAYS MANAGED TO MAKE DO. AS ALWAYS, LIFE HAS THOSE UNEXPECTED CURVE BALLS...

* * *

"Serenity! This is perfect!" Mr. Dartz exclaimed.

Serenity jumped up and squealed like a little kid. "Thank you, Mr. Dartz."

Amane resisted the urge to throw up. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She resisted the urge to punch Serenity's lights out. She resisted the urge to bolt up and yell at Mr. Dartz and slap him silly. But she didn't know how much longer she could resist the urge to strangle the smaller girl.

Mr. Dartz was so busy complementing Serenity on the changes she made (once again) to Amane's work that he didn't notice a small piece of paper fly over Amane's shoulder onto her schoolwork. Amane raised her eyebrow and opened the note.

_Task 1:Corner Wheeler's brat of a sister and drug her._

**Task 2:steal a car and drop her of somewhere far from here.**

Task 3: Brainwash everyone into thinking Serenity never existed in case she ever finds her way back.

Amane suppressed a giggle. The first line was no doubt Bakura's work. The second was Akefia's and the third was most likely Ryou's. She picked up her pencil and scribbled in the corner:

_**Task 4: I think its best for you to get your heads out of the gutter or whatever boys heads get stuck in.**_

She refolded the note and tossed it over her shoulder. Whoever was behind her would pass it back and the process would continue until it reached one of her brothers or her cousin. No one ever read the notes that were passed between the relatives, for fear that it be something mentally scarring and the foursome was quite okay with this arrangement. The only person that had ever intercepted one of their notes and read it was Yami and needless to say Bakura was embarrassed for the next week and refused to have any public contact with his enemy for the same amount of time.

She heard Bakura groan. A few seconds later the note came flying over her shoulder again.

_Dream kill/Fun sucker._

Amane rolled her eyes and crumpled the note into a ball. She tossed it at the waste basket with little to much force and instead it hit their teacher in the face.

"Okay!" Mr. Dartz snapped, standing up," Who did that?!"

Akefia and Bakura's immediate reactions were to always point the finger at Yami and Atem. Amane rolled her eyes. Lucky for her, the bell rang.

"I will find out who threw this at me." Mr. Dartz threatened holding the balled up note.

_'Don't open it, don't open it' Amane thought._

Thankfully, Mr. Dartz shook his head and tossed it in the waste basket. Everyone gathered up their belongings and filed out of the room. On his way out Akefia swatted her in the back of the head.

_'He must have seen me pitch it,ACCIDENTALLY, at the teacher.' Amane thought rubbing the back of her head._

Amane hurried to her locker so she could drop her stuff off and get lunch. It was only after she dumped her books in her locker that she noticed that there was a note taped to her locker.

**Come join us at lunch! We don't bite into anything but our food! MANA P.S. Please come!**

Amane kindly rolled her eyes. The girl was persistent, that was for sure. She was extremely tempted by the offer after all the drama from the morning.

_'I'll just have to persuade my brothers.' she thought sourly.'Like that will work,if ever.'_

Amane folded the note and shoved it in her pocket. The best way she could think of getting to the lunch room and to Mana and Tristan was to go past Serenity Wheeler's and Vivian Wong's lockers. She took off down the hall with out room for thought. She passed Vivian's locker with no problem and when she saw that Serenity wasn't standing in front of her locker flirting with Duke she breathed a sigh of relief.

That relief was short lived. Just as she was going to pass around the corner and get away from Serenity's locker, she stopped short and pressed herself against the shorter girls locker. Serenity and Duke were in a heavy discussion with Vivian straight ahead of her. Vivian huffed and stormed off. Serenity and Duke headed towards the locker Amane currently had her back pressed up against when Serenity stopped abruptly.

"It just isn't fair!" the shorter one pouted,stamping her foot on the ground.

"I know, my Serenity-" (_'My SERENITY?!' Amane thought,'Yick!') _"-no one realizes you need to be treated better than the way you are except me!" Duke said. He held his arms out."Come here!"

Serenity obliged and hugged Duke back. "Mana stole Tristan! Mana is a no good boy stealer!" she whined.

Amane realized her resistance to the urge of strangling Serenity was thinner than she thought. Mana steal Tristan from Serenity? Serenity choose Duke over Tristan and left the boy heartbroken. And she had the nerve to call Mana a boy stealer?!

"I'm sure we can get him back, dear." Duke muttered.

Duke was okay with this? Was there a mutiny Amane didn't get to participate in?

Serenity started to cry. "Hey,hey. Look at me." Serenity looked up at her boyfriend.

"Who was my one other?"

"Mai Valentine."

"And who was yours?"

"Tristan Taylor."

This was starting to make sense all of a sudden. Serenity and Duke had both chosen someone they could be with while the relationship was still working that the other couldn't get mad at and say they were cheating. Duke's had been Mai and Serenity's had been Tristan. And now Mana was Tristan's best friend of the opposite gender.

"Does Serenity Wheeler ever give up?"

"No." Serenity wiped a tear off of her face. "You're right."

"Good. Now go find Tristan." Duke encouraged. He let Serenity out of his embrace.

Serenity checked her make-up and flipped her hair. "First, I have to talk to someone's stepbrother." she said. Amane braced for Serenity to see her pressed up against her locker, but instead, Serenity turned around and walked down the hall. Amane sighed in relief.

Duke shrugged and turned to face Serenity's locker, but Amane was no longer pressed up against it. She turned around the corner and rushed down the hallway. She didn't stop 'til she reached Tristan.

"Hey." she panted.

"What's wrong with you?" Tristan asked.

Amane braced herself on Tristan's shoulder to keep her from falling over. "I'll tell you in a couple min-"

"AMANE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN WE'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OV-GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF OUR SISTER!" Bakura shrieked.

"I'm not touching her! She's leaning on me so she wont fall over!" Tristan objected.

"So says you!" Akefia countered,"No one touches our sister!"

The boys continued to argue and soon enough Amane tuned them out. Mana choose to walk into the Cafeteria a couple minutes later. When she saw Amane's brother trying to rough up Tristan her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Amane jerked her head towards the doors and mouthed "Go!"

Mana sent her a questioning look. "Go!" Amane mouthed once more.

Mana nodded and snuck out the doors.

* * *

"I hope Tristan will be all right." Mana muttered as she entered the now almost empty hall. "What am I going to do now?" After weighing her options Mana decided to head for her locker. But she didn't get to far before she ran straight into Mahad, her step-brother.

"Mahad! I haven't seen you in a while!" she said.

Mahad grunted. "I here you have a new friend." he said.

"Two actually. Tristan Taylor and Am-" she began.

"A boy." Mahad interrupted.

"So what?! For once I know a boy doesn't like me for my body!" Mana groaned.

"I don't like you just for your body!"

"You're my stepbrother! You're not supposed to harbor feelings for me other than brotherly/sisterly love!"

"And that's all I feel for you! But others, like this Tristan Taylor, for instance-"

"Tristan's not the only friend I have! Amane's my friend too!" Mana yelled.

"Amane-?! You mean the school bullies sister? Hell no! I will not permit this!' Mahad yelled back.

"Since when did you have the right to control who I'm friends with? You barely have any of your own! You should be happy I managed to find some good friends!"

"Mana it's my job to protect you-"

"It's also moms! You sound just like Amane's brothers! Who even told you about Tristan? I haven't been around enough in the past week to tell you!"

"That nice girl in your class, Serenity W-"

"Serenity Wheeler? That's who told you? That girl shot Tristan down! And you trust her?!"

"Now Taylor's trying to make his move on you. I'd think you'd be grateful that I'm exposing another fraud for you before its to late! Instead, I get this junk!"

"I can honestly tell you Tristan, no matter how much I want him to, doesn't want a romantic relationship with me!"

Mahad's eyes widened. "You mean you actually _LIKE _him?"

"Of course I do! I'm not a little kid anymore Mahado! I've got to have a crush sooner or later and I've chosen sooner! Nothing is going to change the fact I'm growing up, is that what you're afraid of?"

"What? No! Of course not!-"

"Whatever." Mana rolled her eyes and stormed back into the Cafeteria.

Amane and Tristan were sitting at a table in the far corner. Mana got her lunch and plopped down next to Amane moodily.

"What's up? Amane was just telling me about a conversation she overheard Serenity and Duke having and let me say, it's pretty interesting."

"Did she inform you Serenity had an oh-so-nice chat with my stepbrother Mahad?" Mana growled.

"I thought she meant the Kaiba's when she said that..."

"Well, now Mahad is gonna go after Tristan like a starved Wolf after a Raccoon!" Mana said," Why does she need to worm her way into my life?"

"Probably because she thinks you're a no good boy-stealer." Amane suggested.

Mana glared at her. "Hey, her words not mine."

"But Serenity shot Tristan down!"

"Well apparently, if Serenity wants company other than Duke while their relationship stands, all she has to do is go to Tristan and Duke can't get mad."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Like that'll ever happen." he said sarcastically.

"I'm serious!" Amane insisted," If Duke wants other company then Serenity all he has to do is go to Mai Valentine."

"You're serious?" Mana inquired.

"100 %" Amane nodded.

"Then we must find a way to stop her!" Tristan slammed a fist down on the table. Amane giggled.

"Sorry. You sound like you're talking about something more serious than a wannabe ex when you do that."

"But we do have to stop her." Mana said.

"That may not be so easy." Amane gestured across the room. At one table Ryou was eating his lunch,nose deep in his history book while Akefia and Bakura glared at them. Mahad sat not so far away from the trio, glaring at Amane and Tristan. "Looks like the others are as biased as they can get at this moment."

"True, but Biased people can easily be willed to change sides." Mana said.

"You have a plan?" Tristan inquired.

"I think I do." Mana nodded." Amane can I borrow a sheet of paper and a pen..Thank you..."


	4. Phase one part one

WITH A PLAN SET, ALL THEY HAD LEFT TO DO WAS CARRY IT OUT. THANKFULLY, PEOPLE WERE TOO IGNORANT TO REALIZE WHAT WAS GOING ON...

* * *

"Amane! I'm here!" Mana shouted, walking inside her friends house.

"And I'm right here!" Amane giggled. She stood on the stairs, messenger bag in hand, with a smile and sparkling eyes in her school uniform.

"Whoa. If it weren't for the fact you have breasts I would have mistook you for Ryou." Mana said.

"Ryou isn't much of a cross-dresser,unfortunately. In fact most people say that I bear a closer resemblance to him than my actual brothers. Strange,huh?" Amane giggled.

"Yep. Speaking of your brothers and/or Ryou, where are they?" Mana asked glancing around the room.

"Oh, they're in the kitchen. I think it was Bakura's turn to cook."

"How do you know that?"

"Smell the smoke?"

"Oh. OOOH." Mana nodded in understanding.

"I'll be ready in a sec. Just have to grab a couple things and then we can go." Amane said,making her way up the stairs. Abruptly, she stopped. "Mana?"

"Yeah?"

"This better work."

"It will." Mana nodded. Amane nodded back and resumed walking up the stairs to her room. The instant after Amane shut her bedroom door, she felt someone tap her shoulder. She glanced over shoulder and all most jumped out of her skin. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face the trio of boys behind her.

"Good morning, Bakura! Good morning, Ryou! Good morning,Touzuku!" she greeted, giving them her warmest smile ever.

Ryou nodded an took a bite of his (burnt) toast. Akefia, who though was surprised that Mana knew of his other name, nodded curtly. However Bakura simply glared at her.

"What exactly did she mean by 'This better work'?" He asked.

Amane had been talking about their plan, but of course Mana couldn't tell him that. She took another deep breath and prepared to tell him one of the lie she had practiced the night before.

"Tristan and I will walk to school with you guys and Amane today in hopes that you will allow us to be friends with your sister/cousin when you get to know us." she explained/lied.

"That seems fair." Ryou said before taking another bite of his toast.

"Agreed." Akefia said.

Bakura groaned and covered his face with his hands. "If you two seem to think its worth a shot then I have no objections." he groaned halfheartedly.

"Glad to know you all approve." Mana lied. In reality, she knew they would approve because of Amane.

"I guess we will be picking up the food vacuum as well?" Bakura asked.

"If you mean my boyfriend-" Liar "- then yes. We are."

"Boyfriend?" Ryou inquired.

"Yes." Mana lied," Tristan is my boyfriend. You seem surprised."

"We are." the trio responded in unison.

"And that would be because?"

"Have you seen yourself?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"Exactly! You're, if you don't mind me saying so, to hot for him. You're more like Duke's type then Tristan's." Ryou admitted.

"Aw! Thanks...I think. You're so sweet!" Mana gushed.

"I always wondered what his reason for always hanging of you like Duke hangs of Wheeler's bratty sister was for," Bakura said," Guess I know now,huh?"

"Yup." Mana nodded nonchalantly. "If only someone could get the picture nailed into Serenity's thick skull..." she added in a hushed tone meant to draw out Bakura.

"What was that?" Bakura growled.

"You've been nice..so far...So I guess it wont hurt to tell you..you do seem to support Tristan and I's relationship..." Mana said slowly.

Bakura grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "What? Tell us what?!" he growled.

"Serenity seems to think Amane and Tristan would make a good couple, so she keeps trying to separate us so Tristan and Amane can get together." she lied again.

"Are either one of them interested in this proposition?" Bakura asked.

Mana shook her head slowly. "No. Tristan says he'll never be able to land another girl like me even if he tried."

Bakura let go of her shoulders and smirked evilly. "You're a nice girl." he muttered nonchalantly/innocently.

Though Mana didn't buy this, she had to pretend she did and feign blissful ignorance. She smiled widely as if she had not just been thinking how creepy Bakura was, and said," Thanks! You're not so bad yourselves...being bullies and all."

"Yes but if you or your boyfriend blurt out that we were nice to you we wont be so nice anymore." Akefia threatened.

Still feigning ignorance, Mana said," Don't worry, I'm sure that wont happen."

"You wont like the results if it does end up happening.." Ryou mumbled taking one last bite of his toast.

"Mana! Ryou! Akefia! Bakura! I'm ready!" Amane yelled as she rushed down the stairs."Ready to go?"

"Of course." the foursome replied in sync. Mana and Amane were the first to rush through the door, but not before Akefia muttered to Bakura, "She's Duke's type all right. HOT and STUPID."

"I may not be smart," Mana yelled over shoulder," but I still have perfectly good ears and hearing!"

Both boys exchanged glances before pushing Ryou to the ground and walking over him out the door. Ryou quickly stood up, and started to throw insults at them as he chased after them down the driveway.

" You manky, barmy, gormless, naff, prat wankers!" he yelled.

"What would prompt such an act of insults?" Akefia cackled from the side walk semi-discreetly hiding behind Amane.

"You're bloody joking, right?" Ryou panted reaching the end of the driveway. Bakura put an arm around his cousin.

"Okay, so maybe we swear a little..." he admitted.

"A little? A LITTLE...?!" Ryou muttered shaking his head.

"That doesn't give you the right to be a copycat." Akefia interjected.

"I thought we were going to school, not seeing who has a more potty mouth." Amane reminded them.

"Oh,right! Well then,...lead the way!" Ryou pointed straight ahead, earning chuckles from the other males.

"Onward!" Amane said. The group laughed, then began to walk.

_'This seems nice. I wonder why Amane's brothers are such bullies at school?' Mana thought._

Looking for a chance to impress Amane's relative, Mana tried small talk. "I like your accent,Ryou, but I'm curious. How come you seem to be the only one with an accent?"

"I am..." Ryou chuckled," That's because..."

Ryou proceeded to explain the origins of his British accent and why though the others were related to him they did not have any accents. By the time he was finished, they were on Tristan's street.

"I like your accent to, by the way." Ryou added," Egyptian, right?"

"Yup!" Mana nodded,"Born and raised there for 16 years until Dad got a new job and we were required to move here."

"Well,looky now! If it isn't your boyfriend!" Akefia teased. Mana jumped up and down and waved at her best friend.

"Tristan! Tristan!" she yelled. Tristan glanced their way and waved back. Akefia and Bakura glanced at each other and raised their eyebrows suspiciously. Not know what else to do, Mana handed Amane her bag, rushed up to Tristan and threw herself in his arms.

"I guess you did end up using that one after all." Tristan whispered, hugging his 'girlfriend'.

Mana blushed. "Yeah, I only wish.."

"Wish what?"

"Nothing." she said, looping her arm through his. "It's just not going to be easy." _'Did I almost say I wish it were true? Pull yourself together Mana!'_

"It'll get easier." Tristan said. He planted a kiss on her cheek, causing her to blush more and her heart to hammer.

_'I wonder if he even notices at all...I'm pretty sure Amane does.'_

"Top of the morning to ya!" Tristan said as the others caught up with Mana.

"Back at you!" Amane said.

"Salutations!" Ryou said.

Akefia and Bakura just grunted in reply.

"Here's your bag Mana." Amane held out her bag.

"Oh, sorry! I guess I was in such a hurry, I didn't notice.."

"Here,let me." Tristan slung Mana's bag over his shoulder.

"Why thank you!" Mana said, as the group began to walk down the block.

"The cheese-o-meter is going off back here!" Bakura shouted.

"Like you guys act any different when you think of your crushes!" Amane replied causing the two bullies to actually blush.

"So they know love for someone beyond family...who..?" Mana whispered to Amane.

Amane tilted her head forward and muttered," Look over there."

Coming around the corner was the geek squad, with Atemu and Yami at least five feet ahead of them.

"That would make..."

"That would make the rumors true." Amane nodded.

"Hey! What are you to mumbling about?" Bakura inquired.

"Nothing." Mana said.

"Just girl stuff." Amane replied. Bakura raised an eyebrow and shook his head. He almost looked hurt when he heard Yami groan," Oh,no! Not now!"

"What's up dweebs?" Akefia said as their group came to a stop.

"I don't find that to be your business, Thief." Atemu replied.

"Yeah!" Bakura oozed hanging over Yami,and pointed at Atemu," We don't need to know these two were K-I-S-S-I-N-G in a tree."

Akefia laughed and the brothers high fived. Yami snorted. "You two wish."

"Listen, Princey..." Bakura said," I don't want to see any part of you in a romantic relationship/position, it's truly the last the thing I want on my mind."

"Yeah, because you can't have him." Amane whispered to Mana who giggled in response.

"You're just jealous cause no girl would ever come near you."

"Hey!" Mana and Amane exclaimed.

"No actually lady would." Atemu said.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Mana slapped Atemu. "I don't know your idea of what makes a lady, but let me tell you, no one gets away with insulting me like that." she slapped him again," Got it?!"

Atemu quickly nodded. "Yeah..sure. Sorry."

Mana smiled. "Better."

"I don't need a girl near me to make me feel superior, unlike you." Bakura responded.

"Just because I hang with Yami alot doesn't make me his girlfriend." Tea cut in.

"Yeah, it just makes you a wannabe." Akefia said.

Amane rolled her eyes. " When capable of an intelligent conversation, please join us." She, Mana and Tristan trudged forward.

"Hey wait for us you guys!" Ryou grabbed hold of his cousins and pulled them forward. The geek squad soon joined suit. Along the way the met up with Serenity and Duke, and Seto Kaiba.

The group didn't separate until they reached the school, and by that time they all were either laughing, joking, goofing around or glaring.

"See y'all later!" Mana waved to the others as she and Tristan headed towards their lockers.

"You know you've been holding onto my arm the whole time, don't you?" Tristan asked.

"Oh,sorry." Mana unlooped her arm from his.

"Nothing to be sorry about. I like having a pretty girl hang off me." Tristan said.

Mana giggled. Shyly, she stood up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Uh,look.."Tristan tilted his head to the left. Mana turned around. Her step brother Mahad was staring at the with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open.

"We may have taken care of Amane's family, but we still need to take care of mine." Mana muttered to Tristan.

"And so begins Phase one;part two." Tristan sighed.


	5. Thoughts and feelings of Serenity

SERENITY PRIDED HERSELF OFF OF BEING ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR GIRLS IN THE SCHOOL. SHE WAS SO SMART AND KIND, WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO BE HER FRIEND? AMANE. DESPITE SERENITY'S DESPERATE ATTEMPTS THE GIRL JUST WOULDN'T BE HER FRIEND. AT LEAST SHE HAD THE DECENCY TO PRETEND TO BE ONE...

* * *

I hummed to happily myself. At first I had been in a bad mood because that Mana girl hanging all over Tristan this morning while we (Duke & I) were walking to school with the others, but now, I'm as happy as can be. Why some might ask? Because I was setting another plan in motion.

No. Not one to separate Mana and Tristan. One to befriend Amane. My current location was the library where Amane and I were studying across from each other. I idly pretended not to notice her and the aggravated glances she kept sending at me. I hummed louder.

Her head bolted up. I could easily see what she was working on now. Sheet music.

"Um, hey, Serenity?" she asked sweetly, as if she didn't loathe me.

I looked up. "Yeah, Amane? Need help?"

"A little. You see I'm working on another project for Mr. Dartz an I got stuck on this one part."

"Oh,really?"

"I was wondering...Can I borrow that little piece you were humming? Figured I'd ask before..."

I nodded. "Sure. Go ahead."

She smiled. "Thanks,hon."

_'That was a bust.' I thought bitterly._

I scowled and slammed my book shut with a little more force then necessary. I shoved it into my bag with the same amount of force.

"You all right, Serenity?" Amane asks, and I can tell that there is some genuine concern in her question. Some...hm, no still not enough.

I ignore the fact we're in a library, and I almost never break rules, and yelled at her.

Slamming my fist down, I yelled," NO AMANE! NOTHING'S WRONG! THAT'S ALL!"

The librarian shushed me. Amane's eyes widened. I doubt she had even she me in this bad of a mood before. Duke has an almost calming effect that usually keeps my temper in line. Almost. Usually.

I shove the rest of my things into my bag and rush out of that deranged place. I can hear Amane calling out to me, but I ignore her, pretending to be out of earshot. Suddenly, a hand wraps around my wrist. I turn to face Amane.

She is wearing a small, almost sly, smile and her eyes have an unrecognizable glint in them.

"This is about Tristan, isn't?" she asked softly. I jerk my wrist out of her hand.

"As if! Why are you so obsessed with him!? He's that...MANA girls boyfriend, after all. Do you want him? I chose Duke over him. That means that. I. WANT. NOTHING. TO. WITH. HIM. ROMANTICALLY. ANYHOW."

"You're sure of that?" she asks.

"Positively." I say rushing forward. At the moment I want nothing to do with him romantically...but later on,if Duke and I have troubles...Stop that Serenity! He's got a girlfriend now and you know that he'll be faithful to her if the time ever comes...hoping their relationship lasts that long, of course. I don't.

No, not because of Tristan but because of Mana. I've known Tristan pretty much since I was born and I was planning on finding him a suitable girlfriend after winter break and Mana had no right to swoop in and convince him that I'm the bad guy...well, Mana and Amane, but that's beside the point.

A loud crash brings me out of my thoughts. I turn around and see...Amane upside down in a garbage can?! I start to laugh as I walk over to her. She struggles a bit and manages to turn herself right side up.

"You okay, Amane?" I giggle-ask.

"Sure. I'm fine." She replies," A lil' help?" She holds out her hand.

"Oh, sure." I take her hand and start trying to help her out of the garbage can. After a few moments, I hear that oh-so-recognizable sound that means the garbage can is going to...

A loud crash sounded through the halls.

...tip.

I had quickly moved aside, so I was fine, but Amane on the other hand, was sprawled out across the floor with several large pieces of garbage. I start laughing again, even though I know it's rude and kinda mean and ditzy.

"Um, you all right?" I manage to ask between laughs.

She sits up and dusts off her uniform. "Yeah..totally fine, Serene."

I've never understood that nickname she gave me. Serene means at peace or lovely or something like that. I know that makes me sound stupid, not knowing what Serene means, but hey, it's my life.

I smile and take out some perfume from my bag. I squirt some on her uniform. She winces.

"What's that for?" She asks, almost like she thinks I'm marking her as my property.

"You don't want to walk into class smelling like garbage do you?" I reply, wrinkling my nose.

"No...I guess not." she mutters.

A few more squirts and, brava! You can't tell she ever went near that can. She picks up the trash and throws it all back into the can.

"Uh, thanks, Serenity."

"Yeah, sure. Anytime."

Abruptly, the bell rings.

"Oh! We have to get to class!" she says.

I grabbed her hand and we rushed into the classroom. Once entered, Mana, Tristan, Bakura, Akefia, Duke, Ryou, and Vivian look at us with interest. I let go of her hand and she thanks me once more. I nod my head and bounce over to Duke and Vivian.

"Another friendship attempt?" Duke asks, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"No, not really." I reply, and my two friends give me odd looks. I can overhear Amane telling her friends that I did something that makes me qualify as 'almost human'. Hmm...

"Hey, I think I got an idea to separate Tristan and Mana." I blurt out.

"Really? Lets hear it then!" Duke says, and Vivian nods her head in agreement.

I take a deep breath...

* * *

Vivian smirked. Everything is going according to her plan. Serenity has become the fall guys and Duke,Tristan,Mana, and Amane her pawns playing ever-oh-so-perfectly into her hands...


End file.
